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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

A Much Better Morning

The Youngest Island Boy's teacher called me last night to talk about the problems he's having in the mornings. She said she talked to him yesterday and asked if anyone was picking on him or being mean to him and he told her no. He did tell her about the little girl in his class who keeps calling him a F#@% Head but that doesn't hurt his feelings because no one he knows uses the F word and so he likes to hear her say it. She said she told him that going to school is like going to work for grown-ups and that even if you don't want to go you still have to. I told her that he seems happy each day when he gets home so I don't think he's miserable all day and she agreed saying that he's always happy at school and seems to like being there. So we decided that it's just the leaving home part that he hates. She suggested I make a chart and each day that he goes to school without crying I give him a smiley face and at the end of the week he gets a treat for doing so well. She even said that if I would send a smiley on his shirt the mornings he does well that she will give him an extra treat from the treat box on Fridays if he has had smileys all week. When I finished talking to her I talked to him and told him the new plan. He was really excited about it and as soon as I made his Happy Chart he ran and put it on the refrigerator. I asked what kind of treat he wants if he goes without crying and he said he wants to go get an ice cream on Saturday. If bribing him with ice cream will get him to school without sobbing like his heart is breaking then ice cream it is (I have no problem with bribery LOL) So this morning he jumped out of bed and was SO good getting ready for school. We put a smiley on his Happy Chart and I put one on his shirt for him to show his teacher and all was well. I hope this fixes the problem because my heart just can't take pushing a sobbing child out the door any more.